


Hug Ignis Week: Entries

by 814CK0U7



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Breakfast in Bed, Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV, Cooking, Crack, Fluff, Gen, Hugs, Humor, Injury, Mankinis, Nudity, Platonic Cuddling, Sleeping Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-14
Packaged: 2020-11-26 18:14:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20934581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/814CK0U7/pseuds/814CK0U7
Summary: My entries for #HugIgnisWeek2019, collated into one work. Tags will be added as we go.Day 1: Hugs | Friends & Family - Noctis tackle-hugs Ignis on his way to a council meeting.Day 2: Sleeping In - Noctis and Prompto pull an all-nighter to prepare a luxurious breakfast spread for Ignis.Day 3: Cuddling | Injury Recovery - Ignis gets seriously hurt during a hunt. Gladio plays nurse AND human hot water bottle.Day 4: Home | Snowed In - Ignis and the boys wake up one winter morning to find that their cabin has been snowed in. They decide to take the day off. Ignis reflects on their life so far.Day 5: Animals | Childhood Memories - Ignis spends some time cuddling with his chocobo and reminiscing about his childhood after visiting his family's grave.Day 6: Vacation - The boys vacation in Galdin Quay. “LAST ONE IN THE WATER HAS TO WEAR THE MANKINI!”Day 7: Coffee | Cooking for Ignis - The boys cook Ignis' favourite dish. Thanks to the recipe that Ignis leaves for them, things (generally) go according to plan.Day 8: Free Day (Ignis + Cor)  - Ignis has a bad day. It's time for Cor Leonis, patron saint of all of the Citadel's wayward sons, to step in.





	1. Day 1: Hugs | Friends & Family (Ignis + Noctis)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis tackle-hugs Ignis while he is on his way to a council meeting.

The first sign that there’s anything different about today came in the morning. Ignis had gathered all of his documents and his laptop into his attaché case for the day, and was on his way through the winding corridors of the citadel to the Council Meeting Room. He was still 15 minutes early, but he wanted to make a good impression. This was only his third time shadowing Councilman Dyscolus, and Ignis knew it was in his best interests to lay out all of the necessary documents beforehand to avoid having to rustle papers back and forth underneath the irritable old man’s nose. Not to mention, Uncle would be observing him from his own seat on the Council.

With all of these preoccupations on his mind, Ignis really couldn’t be faulted for failing to notice a certain raven-haired prince bouncing down the corridor at top speed towards him. It also went without saying that it was completely unheard of for said prince to show any signs of life, let alone be running, at 8AM in the morning. By the time Ignis’ mind registered his liege, it seemed too late to avoid a collision, and instead of trying to bound sideways and risk throwing himself against the wall or hitting an innocent bystander, Ignis’ body elected to brace for impact.

But no impact came. Instead, Ignis was immediately enveloped in Noctis’ scent. There was the scent of the detergent that Ignis had personally selected and sourced for Noctis, who tended to itch if his clothes were washed with regular chemical detergent. It smelt softly of lavender, whose qualities led Ignis to wonder if it was partially at fault for the prince’s inability to get up in the morning. Next to that was the scent of menthol oil. This, Ignis had previously associated with his older relatives who had bad backs - until it became a nightly ritual for Ignis to massage it into Noct’s back, to soothe the ache of his scars. Underlying these two scents was something unmistakably Noctis - the same warm scent that Ignis remembered from those days when he used to hold his friend when he cried at night.

Just as quickly as he had allowed himself to relax into Noctis’ embrace, Ignis jerked away, his mind a flurry of concern.

“What’s the matter?”

Noctis looked up - Ignis was still comfortably taller despite Noctis’ growth spurt earlier in the year - and gave a lopsided grin.

“Nothing! Just thought I’d give you a hug. You looked like you needed it. What’s on fire?”

Ignis furrowed his eyebrows. “Pardon?”

Noctis snorted and rolled his eyes. “What’s the rush?”

“There’s a council meeting in… 8 minutes, that I’m going to be late for if I don’t make a run for it.”

“All right, all right. Don’t die of boredom, okay? I’ll see you. You'd better come down to lunch today. You’ve stood me up for two days!”

“That would depend entirely on whether Councilman Dys-”

“Councilman Dyscolus can suck my-”

“Shhhhhhh!”

Ignis looked around in alarm to see if any of the council members were on their way to the meeting room as Noctis’ high-pitched laughter echoed through the corridor. Thankfully there were none.

“Noctis!”

Noctis grabbed Ignis’ arm and gave it a tight squeeze.

“Okay, okay. Bye, Specs.”

To his credit, Ignis tried to look stern - but he knew there was the crackle of a smile lingering faintly at the corner of his mouth, even as he entered the austere hall that was the council room. Noctis was clearly having a good day, and goodness knew there was a shortage of them these days. The warmth of Noctis’ hand on his arm lingered as Ignis began to prepare the desks for the morning’s discussion on the distribution of clean water in Duscae.

He felt rather determined to make it to lunch today, Councilman Dyscolus be damned.


	2. Day 2: Sleeping In (Ignis + Noctis + Prompto)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis and Prompto pull an all-nighter to prepare a luxurious breakfast spread for Ignis so that he can sleep in.

Prompto rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he squinted at the lock he was supposed to be picking. Next to him, Noctis tapped his feet impatiently while balancing the two baskets of food they had prepared the night before.

“I thought you knew how to do this?”

“I’ve picked like, school lockers before. Mostly my own lockers… actually, only my own locker, when I forgot to bring my key and was too embarrassed to ask the reception lady for the lock breaker… for like, the seventh time.”

Noctis chuckled. “You’re such a dork.”

“Are you sure he gets up this early, though? Even my 90 year old neighbour only gets up at like, 5AM. And I only know that because of the one time I offered to sleep next to her bed because she was having chest pains and wanted someone to be with her.”

Noctis smiled down at his best friend’s blond head. “She’s lucky to have you as a neighbour, you know that?”

Prompto blushed furiously from his position crouched in front of Ignis’ room in the Citadel, but Noctis had no way of knowing in the darkness.

Noctis glanced at his watch. “We’ve got like, ten minutes until his alarm goes. I snooped on his phone yesterday while he has baking. You’d better put your back into it.”

Prompto fiddled around with the metal contraption he was holding, and finally, the lock gave way with a click and the door yawned upon.

“We’re lucky he’s staying here in his Citadel room instead of his apartment, you know. The lock here is pretty basic because Citadel security is state-of-the-art anyway,” Prompto explained as he stored the metal contraption back into his bag. “What now? Do we go in there and wake him up?”

“Nah, let’s set the table.”

Noctis and Prompto walked in, homemade breakfast feast on tow, and stared in disbelief. 

Having a private room at the Citadel was customary for higher level Citadel employees, such as those who sat on the Council, those in leadership and command positions, and those close to King Regis or Prince Noctis, such as Ignis, Gladio, and Cor. The private room could be customised for a multitude of purposes. Gladio used it as a library-gym hybrid, his walls covered in bookshelves while the floor was crowded with a multitude of weights. Cor used his as an extension of the Crownsguard office and used it to store reconnaissance documents and as a sort of ops room for keeping track of developments from Nifelheim.

Neither of them had really entered Ignis’ before, and both had assumed that it would be some kind of posh office with a desk, mahogany bookshelves filled with recipe books, a wardrobe, a small kitchen, and various contraptions for making all kinds of coffee- and a plush cot tucked away in the corner for all of the nights he spent here because he didn’t have time to return to his own apartment.

The only part they got right was the cot.

Apart from the bed in which Ignis slept, the only thing really worth commenting on was the curtain blocking out the lights of the skyscrapers outside, and Ignis’ attache case, placed neatly next to the bed.

“Uh, did we bring cups?”

“Nope, I… kindda assumed he would have cups… like, those fancy ones with flower patterns and gold rims.”

Noctis and Prompto stared at each other and shrugged.

\--

Ignis was not selected to be Prince Noctis’ advisor for nothing. He had not only aced but also broken the record for the aptitude tests that they used on 6 year olds from House Scientia and the other houses of Lucian retainers to assess their suitability for the position. He had also bested all of the other hopefuls in hand-to-hand combat tests and left them in tears, assuring that he would never have friendly ties with numerous branches of House Scientia ever again. Life in service to the royal family was not easy, and Ignis had learnt from a young age the kind of ugliness that adults - even members of his own family - will resort to in order to curry favours with the king and fill in the best seats with their children. At the age of 6, he had already survived a poor attempt at assassination from a jealous distant relative who had thought that it would be a simple task to sneak into Ignis’ bathroom and inject him with poison while he was bathing. The official story, in order to protect the crown from embarrassment, was that she had slipped in the bath and cracked her head open while staying with Ignis and his uncle for a friendly get-together. Ignis knew better.

It went without saying, then, that Ignis had woken immediately upon hearing the first clink of the lockpick against the lock on his door. He had reached for the dagger that he always kept under his pillow when he heard Prompto and Noctis’ voice.

Ignis couldn’t help but sigh inwardly at how loud the two of them were. They would both fare quite miserably when they both take the compulsory infiltration module with Cor next year. It was clear that they were putting up some kind of surprise for him, so he decided to lay back down and pretend to be asleep.

\--

Noctis put down the two baskets of food and drinks that they had fixed specially for Ignis. Naturally, both Noctis and Prompto knew that there was no way either of them would be awake in time to prepare all of this food and catch Ignis before he woke up. So, under the guise of having a sleepover at Noct’s house - no advisors allowed, they had taken a nap after school, gone grocery shopping, and spent the better half of the night cooking and mixing.

It wasn’t anything particularly complex - the entire menu consisted mostly of items that both Noctis and Prompto had learnt how to cook during home economics lessons. Prompto, living mostly alone, was far more used to cooking than Noctis, but not by much - most of his time these days was spent studying, hanging out with Noctis, jogging, or taking photographs, and he stuck mostly to simple one-dish meals that utilised the toaster or the microwave oven.

Still, the two boys were immensely proud of the feast that they had whipped up for the advisor. The first thing they had prepared was a honeyed oat porridge with sliced apples, raisins, nuts, and cinnamon. That one was a minor disaster, as Prompto had immediately sliced a finger upon peeling his first apple, and Noctis had managed to sneeze all over the first batch of oats after inhaling a lungful of cinnamon.

Then, there was a stack of Tenebraean style pancakes - Noctis and Prompto had waged a heated debate about whether they should make Lucian style pancakes, which were thicker and fluffier, or Tenebraean ones, which were much thinner and more like crepes. Ultimately, it was decided that the Tenebraean ones would taste better, as the Lucian pancakes tended to become a little hard if they were allowed to cool.

Third, there was a stack of grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches. Noctis refused to have anything to do with preparing the sandwiches save for taking the bacon and the cheese out of their packets. The two of them had learnt how to make this in school during a fateful lesson in which the students of Insomnia High were treated to a rare spectacle of their prince shouting and flailing while an entire frying pan’s worth of bacon raised a pillar of flame that left a black circle of soot in the school kitchens. Noctis never spoke of the incident again, and Cor like to joke that their classmates had been made to sign non-disclosure agreements.

To top off the breakfast was a fruit salad, which was Prompto’s idea and of Noctis’ execution. After all, he was much better with the paring knife, and there wasn’t much that could go wrong when it came to washing vegetables and peeling fruits. Of course, Noctis was a law unto himself, and managed to take Prompto’s eye out with a particularly vigorous squirt of tomato seeds while slicing open some miniature tomatoes.

Prompto’s poor eye was still red.

They laid out the plates of food and the flasks of tea and coffee on a sheet of cloth that they had taken from Noctis’ closet, and stared at Ignis’ sleeping figure.

Prompto frowned. “He must be exhausted out of his mind if he managed to sleep through both of us doing all of that.”

Noctis shrugged. He didn’t like the idea of Ignis working himself to exhaustion for him. He made his displeasure known to both his father and Ignis, which had led to some tension between Ignis and Noctis lately. That was part of the reason for the lavish breakfast spread this morning, to make up for the amount of work that Ignis did. He’d asked his father to clear Ignis’ morning today so that they could enjoy all of this together.

“I don’t like it when he does that… and he’s being doing it forever for me, since he was like, six years old.”

Prompto fidgeted awkwardly and hopped closer to Ignis, glancing down at the sleeping advisor’s face.

“He looks so peaceful when he’s asleep. He hasn’t got those two lines between his eyebrows, you know, the ones that goes down? He’s going to look permanently angry when he’s like, seventy-five if he keeps it up.”

\--

Ignis made a conscious effort to keep his face slack and neutral, and to keep his breaths even, but it was becoming quite the challenge, with his two friends obviously poring over him. There was Noctis’ lavender-mint scent to his right, and to his left there was the unmistakable scent of Prompto’s body spray, something cheap and fruity that would have been tacky on anybody but Noctis’ classmate.

“Yeah… you know, Iggy got into trouble once. I think it was when I was seven and he was eight. He snuck in on me while I was sleeping and he decided it would funny to m-”

Oh, oh no. Noctis was not telling this story, not to Prompto.

“Good morning.”

“Oh shit!”  
“What the hell!”

Ignis hid a smirk as he sat up in his bed and watched his two friends recover from their shock.

“How long have you been listening to us?” Noctis demanded, crossing his arms and pouting like a petulant child.

“Long enough to have heard a suggestion that you might be doing your chores yourself from now on, Noctis? Perhaps I shall ease you in by putting you on laundry and toilet cleaning duty first.”

Noctis groaned.

“Aaaaaaanyway,” Prompto jumped in, “We prepared breakfast, for Noct’s hardworking adoptive mum. Come and enjoy!”

Ignis looked down at the floor between his bed and his door in awe.

“You made all of this… for me?”

“Yeah!” exclaimed Prompto, pulling Ignis towards the spread by one arm. “It was Noct’s idea, and really it was Noct who did most of it. I just helped.”

Ignis glanced at the grilled sandwiches and cocked an eyebrow. “Somehow, I suspect that Prompto is being rather modest, isn’t he, Noctis?”

Noctis scratched the back of his head, not meeting Ignis’ eyes. “Uh, yeah. Prompto did most of it. You know me, I can set water on fire.”

“Come on, come on, let’s eat!”

“Thank you, Noctis. Thank you, Prompto.”

“You’re welcome!”  
“Yeah, yeah.”

\--

Hours later, nobody could really blame Cor when he walked into the council room declaring that he had ordered both the prince and his advisor to take a rest day. After all, the photograph he had circulated on MoogleApp of the prince, his advisor, and his best friend sprawled out on the floor and sleeping with breadcrumbs all over their faces was one for the books.


	3. Day 3: Cuddling | Injury Recovery (Ignis + Gladiolus)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis gets seriously hurt during a hunt. The boys have booked the Leville for a week for him to recover, and Gladio plays nurse AND human hot water bottle.
> 
> Content warnings: Descriptions of the effects of injury. Some mention of blood.
> 
> This could be read as Gladio/Ignis, or it could be read as just some cuddly gen.

Ignis opened his eyes to the ceiling of the hotel room in the Leville, and regretted it immediately. The first thing he noticed was that it was freezing cold. The soft, downy blanket against his bare skin, usually a welcome sensation, did nothing. Underneath a mountain of lumpy gauze and bandages, there was a searing pain in his chest that simply felt wrong. His head throbbed to the beating of his heart, which felt uncomfortably fast and loud. His mouth was sticky and bitter, and he was quite sure that if he so much as turned his head, he would be ill.

He shut his eyes again and vaguely registered the sound of the door closing. It became quiet, although he had not noticed that there was any noise. The last thought he had before he passed out again was that he hoped Gladio had the presence of mind to give Noctis and Prompto only enough gil for breakfast and breakfast only.

When he next opened his eyes, his was a little more aware, although none of the pain and discomfort had abated in the slightest. There was a warm glow streaming in from outside, and the weather looked as though it should be pleasantly warm. This was in stark contrast to the absolute downpour that they had endured on their way back here from Sothmocke Haven.

The scent of meat skewers and curry drifted in through the open balcony, which was a bit of a surprise. In Insomnia these were more of a late afternoon or evening snack, to be enjoyed at a roadside stand that popped up mysteriously on one of the maze-like streets downtown and disappeared just as quickly. Many a temper tantrum had been thrown by a teenage Noctis when he discovered his favourite stalls gone, and many a night had been spent by Ignis testing different blends of spices for the perfect meat skewer recipe.

As his mind became clearer and clearer, Ignis recalled the events of the past week.

They had all bitten off a little more than they could chew. After hauling in a number of impressive catches at the Vesperpool, Noctis had gotten cocky and accepted a number of particularly daring hunts at the Meldacio Hunter HQ despite Ignis’ warning glares to the contrary. They had camped for an entire week at Sothmocke Haven, Ignis and Gladio taking the brunt of the preliminary work as they investigated and strategised late into the night.

Ignis couldn’t help but feel a flash of irritation at Noctis. He could see where his prince was coming from - it was important to build up the experience and confidence now so that they would be able to face more formidable foes in the future. Yet, there was a distinct lack of foresight, and a blatant lack of regard for the consequences of his actions. He sighed.

Suddenly, trapped immobile in his bed like this, he felt a sting of loneliness rear its ugly head from deep within him. There were some unintelligible voices drifting in from the streets, and the usual ambience of Lestallum, but the room was unbearably quiet. He was used to waking up to Noctis’ snores, Prompto’s hushed chatter as he got ready for his morning runs, and the quiet metallic sounds of Gladio cleaning and sharpening his weapons.

“Gladio?” he called softly, his voice breaking with lack of use. He supposed that if anybody were to remain in the room to watch over him, it would be Prompto or Gladio - and Prompto was hard to miss.

Almost immediately, Gladio hopped into the room from the balcony. The thin white curtains billowed around him, giving him the impression of wings. Ignis coughed breathily. His eyes watered.

“Iggy? You all right?”

“Gladio.”

The shield sat down on the bed, his eyebrows furrowed in concern, and placed a hand on Ignis’ forehead. “How are you feelin’?”

Ignis took some time to take stock of his body again. The hastily bandaged wound on his chest still felt wrong, and he guessed that there was some kind of poison or infection involved, if a simple potion had not been enough to patch up the wound. He could feel and move all of his limbs, but they responded slowly and were sluggish.

“Mmm. I’ve been better.”

“You’re still running a fever. Hang on a moment, there’s some painkillers and antibiotics they prescribed to you…”

Ignis raised an eyebrow.

“...prescribed?”

“Yeah, we went to the clinic, remember?”

Ignis stared.

“How much do you remember of the past few days?”

Ignis closed his eyes and tried to think through the pulsating headache. “We went for a hunt… near Sothmocke.”

“And…?”

He tried to think, he really did - but the pain was overwhelming and he wished Gladio would stop this line of questioning. Thankfully, Gladio seemed to pick up on this and placed his hand gently over Ignis’.

“Sorry - where does it hurt?”

“Apart from everywhere? My chest and my head.”

Gladio winced. “We were hunting a Basilisk. There was a misfired Fira spell, you tripped, and the Basilisk clawed your chest. It’s poisonous, so we couldn’t just throw a Potion at you, and we’d run out of Antidotes. Sorry man, the doc says you’re just going to have to ride it out until all of the poison is out of your system.”

Ignis groaned. “Will you all leave the spell firing to me from now on?”

“Yeah… about that. Lil’ guy is feeling pretty guilty about that.”

“I don’t blame him,” Ignis mumbled, and shuddered. “Can you close the windows? It’s cold.”

“Shit, sorry.”

Ignis turned his head slightly to look down at his bare chest. There was a mass of poorly applied bandages, some of it bloodied. He laid his head back down, wincing as even that slight movement pulled at his injury and heightened the pain.

“Cor will want you back for a re-test, you know.”

“Huh?”

Gladio’s face as he turned around and stared at Ignis in confusion was so comical that Ignis had to snort.

“The bandages. I’ve never seen them so poorly applied.”

“That was Prompto. He uh… he felt bad. Wanted to do everything himself.”

“Where is he, by the way?”

Gladio cocked his head toward the window, in the general direction of the Coernix station at Lestallum. “Kenny’s. Noct thought he’d take him outside to… take his mind off things.”

Ignis hummed. “I suppose they won’t be back for a while, then.”

“No, not likely.”

Ignis lifted one hand and patted the empty side of the bed. “Sleep with me.”

Gladio coughed. “What?”

“Honestly, I don’t… usually ask for this, but I’m shivering. Don’t just sit there, make yourself useful and lend me some of your body heat.”

Gladio chuckled. “I’m rather liking this new version of you. Maybe you should get hurt more often.”

“Don’t you dare.”

Gladio lifted Ignis’ torso up gently and slid himself in between Ignis and the bed, so that Ignis was resting on top of him. Ignis shifted to find a comfortable position on Gladio’s chest, eventually electing to settle in in the crook of his arm where he was warmest. There was something about being enveloped in warmth that did wonders for the pain. He felt Gladio’s hands cup his head, his fingers massaging slow circles into his temples. The relief was immediate, and he allowed himself to drift off into unconsciousness again.

Gladio hummed as he felt Ignis’ breaths even out. In the rush to get Ignis back to civilisation in the pouring rain, find a doctor who was willing to make a house call at 3AM in the morning, and deal with Prompto’s tears and Noct’s sullenness, Gladio hadn’t really had time to shower. He knew he wasn’t the most pleasant smelling, and Ignis’ usually immaculate hair was starting to develop its own funk. But he didn’t mind. All was right in the world.


	4. Day 4: Home | Snowed In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis and the boys wake up one winter morning to find that their cabin has been snowed in. They decide to take the day off. Ignis reflects on their life so far.
> 
> This is set in the context of a Forest Cabin Fix-It AU that apockalypsis and I have been building together for the past 10 or so months.

Ignis looked up from the chickatrice fillet on his cutting board. The rectangular windows above his cooking station usually afforded him a clear view of the mountain range that towered over their little forest, but today, he could barely make out the canopies of the trees around them let alone the shape of the mountains through the snow and fog. A week ago they had had their first snow, and last night it had snowed so hard that their front door had been shut in. They had spent the past few months stocking water, food, firewood, and other necessities for the winter, and were well equipped to wait out the winter for the next few months. Ignis saw no real need for them to go out of their way to deal with the snow just yet. It would be a nice opportunity for them all to finally relax at home, after all the time that they spent working.

He heard the iron basement door swing open as Gladio walked into the living room with a stack of firewood for the day and began to stoke the fire in the fireplace. The kitchen was already quite warm from the cooking and baking, but the rest of the house was rather frigid. As he finished slicing the fillets and topping them up with the herb paste that he had grinded earlier, Gladio peeked in.

“What’cha cooking?”

“Chickatrice fillets with garden herb sauce, topped off with a slice of haloumi cheese. There’s also bread baking in the oven,” Ignis responded as Gladio walked over to the oven and gave a contented moan.

“I don’t know how you start cooking in this freezing cold.”

Ignis smiled and pointed to the pot keeping warm on top of the stove. “Ginger tea and a bit of elemental magic. Help yourself.”

The next to make an appearance was Prompto, who stood at the entrance of the doorway connecting their kitchen to their barn. He smelt vaguely of livestock. The smell used to bother some of them when they first decided to add a herd of chocobos and a clutch of chickatrices to their family, but by now, they hardly noticed it.

“The birds all healthy, then?”

“Yep! Honeysuckle was looking a bit peaky yesterday night, but I think he was just feeling a bit cold. I added the blankets I knit last week to his nest, and he’s looking much better today. Oh yeah - this is for you, Iggs!”

Prompto pulled out a large carton of eggs from his messenger bag. “Freshly laid. They’re still warm!”

“Brilliant. Will you put them in the fridge? I’d make omelettes, but I think it’s a little too much for breakfast. Perhaps we can have some egg noodles for lunch.”

Ignis hummed and went back to the chickatrice fillets, which were almost done. He smiled at the sound of Prompto and Gladio, who were now bickering about who got to stand in front of the oven and enjoy the heat.

He hadn’t expected this kind of life for any of them, not after what the Ring of Lucis had shown him all of those years ago. Along the way, they learnt that prophecies could be changed, and that gods could make mistakes. After all that they had endured, they had decided to enjoy a quiet life in the outskirts of Insomnia. Life was simple - the vast majority of the things that they did in their day-to-day life revolved around maintaining the house, the farm, and ensuring that there was a good stock of water, food, and medicine.

Ignis, as always, was in charge of most of the cooking, as well as the maintenance of an herb and vegetable garden just outside of the kitchen. He grew everything from herbs that were used mostly in cooking to medicinal herbs that could be used to cure various ailments. He also grew a multitude of different vegetables, ranging from tubers to nightshades. Thankfully, Noctis was a little more tolerant of vegetables now, and most of the vegetables that grew in the garden consisted of those that he would tolerate.

Prompto was the one who had insisted on adding the connected farm, and like a parent Ignis had told him that he would have to take care of the animals himself. To his credit, Prompto took to this task enthusiastically, waking up even before Ignis each morning to clear out the muck, wash the stables, and feed the animals. He had proved himself to be quite capable of animal husbandry, and their initial herd of four chocobos had increased to a family of nine. Prompto also kept a greenhouse next to the barn to harvest his own gysahl greens. He had also recently attempted to harvest some sylkis greens, which were much more fickle, to varying degrees of success. Naturally, Prompto kept up his photography hobby, and was quite famous on the Moogle network for his chocobo videos, chocobo-raising tutorials, and children’s books about chocobos.

It came quite naturally for Ignis to delegate the role of hunter and handyman to Gladio, who was more than proficient at the job. On any given day, Gladio would spend his morning fixing whatever needed fixing around the house - whether it was a clogged toilet (this was usually Prompto’s fault) or repairing an abused game controller (almost always Noctis’ fault). Then, after lunch, he would go, sometimes with Prompto, to hunt their dinner.

They didn’t give Noctis too much to do. After all, the after-effects of his time in the crystal and the weight of the ring still wore heavy on him, and there were days when he would spend most of his time in bed. On good days, they would ride their chocobos to the nearest stream, which was only a short distance away, and they could be guaranteed that fish was on the menu for dinner.

Ignis glanced towards the top of the stairs, wondering what kind of day today would be. He was about to reach for the tray hanging on the wall, anticipating having to take his and Noctis’ breakfast up to Noctis’ bedroom, when the prince came thundering down the stairs.

“It’s snowing!”

Ignis smiled as he served the chickatrice fillets onto their respective plates, which had been warmed up on top of the oven. Prompto had already taken it upon himself to slice the bread, which had been taken out of the oven some minutes ago.

“Good morning, Noctis.”

“Did you hear me? It’s SNOWING!”

Gladio chuckled. “We know, sleepyhead.”

“Like, seriously snowing! The whole place is white!”

Prompto joined in the laughter. “We know, the rest of us have been up for hours!”

The four of them fell into their daily rhythm and began preparing the dining room for breakfast. Noctis yawned as he set the table and fetched the milk from the fridge. Gladio carried the plates of food and the basket of bread over to the dining table. Prompto carried over the pots of tea and coffee, and Ignis sat down.

It was hard to believe that it was only five years ago that the world had been covered in darkness and daemons. They had spent two years helping with the restoration and rebuilding of Insomnia, after which Noctis had officially abdicated, and thereby declared the end of the reign of the Lucis Caelum family. Ignis had played a key part in organising the first democratic elections of Insomnia. And so it was that a month later, the first elected democratic government of Insomnia, led by none other than Talcott Hester, took over the reins.

Ignis was shaken out of his thoughts by Prompto, who made a rather obscene noise to show his appreciation as he took his first bite of the chickatrice fillet. He smiled and looked down at his own plate to begin his meal, only to discover that his heap of herb sauce had doubled. Nocis’ plate, suspiciously, was devoid of any herb sauce.

“Noct.”

“Green stuff. Icky.”

Ignis sighed. Some things never changed. Sometimes, he was quite glad that they were all generally uninterested in having children of their own. Any child of theirs would be absolutely spoilt. The Six knew that he and Gladio had already spoilt Noctis rotten, at least when it came to his picky eating habits.

Across the table, Prompto fiddled with a bottle of homemade tomato sauce that Ignis had made just for him, since the nearest supermarket that carried mass-produced ketchup was two whole hours away by chocobo. Prompto squeezed the bottle hard, and Ignis waved his hand in alarm.

“Prompto, no-”

Splat.

Well, too late then. He sighed as Gladio and Noctis yelled, trying to get the condiment out of their hair, clothes, and most importantly, the wooden dining table that Gladio had crafted in the summer.

Looking down, Ignis could see a large dollop of tomato sauce floating in his coffee. But he couldn’t bring himself to be angry, or even annoyed. They were, after all, home.


	5. Day 5: Animals | Childhood Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis spends some time cuddling with his chocobo and reminiscing about his childhood after visiting his family's grave. Straight-up introspective angst with bird-given comfort at the end.
> 
> This is also sort of set in the context of a Forest Cabin Fix-It AU that apockalypsis and I have been building together, in that the chocobros live in the cabin. Ignis' family backstory is my own ungodly creation, and I am the only one to blame for that.

Although taking care of the chocobos was, strictly speaking, Prompto’s job, Ignis liked to spend time with his chocobo. The cottage with its four bedrooms and spacious living room was more than enough room for everyone, but even so, it was nice to get away sometimes and be alone.

Ellery was, according to Prompto, the fussiest chocobo of the nine of them, eating only the freshest and most crispy greens, and even so, having to be fed by hand. He was the oldest of the four original chocobos, and the first to join their family. It was about a year or so ago that Ellery had wandered into Ignis’ garden as a chocochick, hurt, sick, and orphaned. Ignis and Prompto had nursed him back to health together in Ignis’ room, which had turned into a temporary chocobo nursery due to its location on the first floor and its proximity to the kitchen. Eventually, Ellery had gotten too large and messy for them to keep in Ignis’ room. By the time Ignis and Prompto had plucked up the courage to ask Gladio if he would be willing to build a connected chocobo barn, Gladio had already drafted the blueprint and ordered the necessary equipment.

Now an adult chocobo, Ellery still tried to sneak back into Ignis’ room once in a while, The door connecting the kitchen and the barn had been broken down twice as a result, and most recently, Gladio had had to reinforce the door with a steel panel. The look on Ellery’s face when he realised that he could not simply kick down this new door like he had done with the past two doors was one for the albums.

After the barn had been built, the four of them had adopted three more chocochicks of a similar age from Wiz, and they theorised that Ellery preferred to be fed by hand due to his memories of being looked after and doted on by Ignis and Prompto as he healed.

Ignis was in a bit of a mood. It was evening, and he had just returned from the Insomnia City Royal Cemetery. It was where the more recent kings of Lucis were buried - none of that hidden royal tomb business anymore - as well as the more recent retainers and shields in service to the royal family.

As a member of House Scientia, the vast majority of the members of his family were buried there. Ignis did not talk much about his family, but he was born to a large family - like the Amicitias, the Scientias were expected to produce children in excess in order to ensure that anybody who would be born or married into the royal family would have a capable advisor of a similar or older age. Not all of the Scientias showed an inclination or desire for the advisory position, but many played key roles serving the royal family in areas such as government, the legal system, education, research, and the arts.

Ignis was something of an anomaly in his family - the Scientias were known for their brilliance, and he was exemplary in this regard, but Ignis was organised. He prided himself on always being punctual, always having a tidy desk, always being presentable. The first 6 years of his life, which was the only time he had ever lived at home, had been something of an ordeal. In his childhood home at Scientia Manor, there would constantly be all manner of toys, papers, books, and trash strewn all over the floor. The kitchen sink was always stacked high with dishes waiting to be loaded into the dishwasher, and one had to be careful about using the stairs because any of his younger siblings could be lying on a random step, taking a nap or reading a book. The drawing room, which was where the Scientias received guests, was the only room in the house that was halfway presentable, and that was only because 5-year-old Ignis insisted on the room being reserved strictly for guest-entertaining purposes. Navigating the hallways was like playing human Tetris - his older siblings were constantly in the middle of some kind of research or investigation, and left stacks upon stacks of academic publications, case files, and books lying around. The Scientias hired help, but the most that they dared to do was to dust the items and take out the trash, for fear of disturbing some kind of chaotic logic that the stacks of materials followed.

There was definitely a love there. Ignis had 5 older siblings and 4 younger ones, placing him comfortably in the middle. His mother mostly did top secret decoding work for the crown from home in her office that was locked away in the thick of the Scientia mess. When she was not working, it seemed that she was busy being pregnant, giving birth, or nursing - though Ignis supposed that assessment was not entirely fair, because she also spent a fair amount of time working and doing at least one of those three things at the same time. There was never any doubt that she loved all of her children very much, but between work and ten children, there was precious little of her time to go around. Ignis considered himself lucky if he so much as received a kiss and a “How are you?” once a week by the time he was five.

As the oldest of the younger half of the Scientia brood, Ignis was rather like a second mother to all of his younger siblings, most of whom were still toddling around and being taken care of by their helpers. He read them books, nursed their cuts after playtime in the garden, and checked their homework. His older siblings doted on precocious little Ignis, showering him with gifts of books and scholarly tomes written for students twice his age.

His father had been the second advisor to King Regis, and was hardly ever around. Ignis remembered him in flashes - a tall shadow coming out of the car spied through a window while stargazing, or a coat tail glimpsed through sleep-clouded eyes after he woke up early in the morning to prepare breakfast for his younger siblings. When he was home, he spent much of that time in serious discussion about politics with Ignis’ mother and some of his older siblings who were involved in government - discussions that he was not permitted to take part in, lest he disturbed them.

Ignis’ last memory of his father was when he was six years old, after being told in a small Citadel office that he was to be raised alongside Prince Noctis to be his advisor for life. His father had greeted him at the door, lifting him up and spinning him around over his head. Ignis had been so alarmed that he had grabbed onto his father, whom, mistaking it for affection, had reciprocated and enveloped him in a too-tight hug.

He kept pinching himself in the ride home with his father. He had been permitted to sit in the front seat for the first time in his life, and they had had a decidedly one-sided conversation about how he was so proud that little Ignis was following in his footsteps, how they were going to work as a father-and-son unit, how he was going to teach Ignis everything he knew about being an advisor. Ignis could only stare in awe at his father’s face, illuminated by the stars and the streetlights. Upon reaching home, he had carried Ignis to his bedroom and kissed him good-night.

It was too good to be true.

The next time Ignis “saw” his father, it was in a state funeral honouring the advisor, who had been kidnapped on his way to work and interrogated and tortured by Gralea for weeks. The rescue mission led by Cor Leonis salvaged what they could, but it was too late. It was closed casket, but the children were allowed to hold their father’s hand one last time, one by one. The rest of the body was covered with a heavy black cloth bearing the royal emblem of Lucis.

Ignis tried not to look at the parts of the cloth that dipped in places where no human body should have indentations.

The Citadel workers all told Ignis how sorry they were for his loss. The public and the media declared his father a national hero. The Crown set up a fund for Ignis’ mother and all of the Scientia children who were below the age of eighteen. There were flowers, letters, gifts, and medals.

He spent most of that week in a muted daze, dividing his time between comforting his older siblings who had had more meaningful relationships with the patriarch, and sitting in his room alone. The idea that he was following in his father’s footsteps, and that this was something that could happen to him, was too difficult to wrestle with at the time. He applied himself fully to his studies and to taking care of Noctis. The busier he was, the less he would have to think about his father and the implications of his position as advisor. The less he saw of his family, the less he would be reminded of his father.

Years passed. He did visit his siblings about once a month, when his tutors at the Citadel offered to drive him, and it would be rude or odd to decline. But something had shifted. Where his siblings had all been happy for Ignis when he first received news of the position, they now seemed wary and sad. Rooms that Ignis walked into fell silent. His younger siblings, and even his older ones treated him with a kind of detached reverence.

He understood after his fifth such visit that he was a sacrifice.

There was an unspoken understanding that sooner or later, Ignis too would lose his life in service to the crown. He felt ashamed for seemingly being the last to realise this out of everyone in the family. That was the last time he saw the rest of his family, all together.

His older siblings who worked in the Citadel had died during the attack on Insomnia. They were the cerebral sort whose work was centred around meetings and discussions and paperwork, and didn’t stand a chance against the onslaught of the Graleans. During the rebuilding efforts, Ignis had managed to identify most of their bodies based on their identity cards. Despite their past, Ignis was surprised to feel a burning sense of pride to see that, based on their positions and the items that they had found around them, they had tried to defend their king with whatever instruments they could find - kitchen knives from the pantry, golf clubs, even what looked to be part of a photocopier tray.

There was no knowing what exactly had become of his younger siblings. He had discovered that Scientia Manor had been deserted, ransacked, and burned down, and that there were no bodies. He had hoped beyond all hope that some of them may have survived among the glaives stationed with Cor in Insomnia, but alas, none of Cor’s glaives were young enough to be his siblings.

These were things that Ignis rarely spoke or even thought about. He had moved on. But once a year, on the anniversary of his father’s death, he would go to the Scientia family tomb to pay his respects and to gouge out all of the details of his past life.

That, he had in common with Noct. He was the last surviving member of his bloodline.

Ignis hung up his keys on one of the four hooks on the front door, second from the left. The other three hooks had the keys hanging on them, which meant that the other three were home. On the dining table, they had left a plate of tomalley-filled dumplings for him on a tray, as well as a bag of sylkis greens. The thought of Noctis going out of his way to procure the ingredients for something that he didn’t even like, and for Prompto and Gladio to have spent the afternoon kneading away at the dumpling dough filled his heart with warmth, and he couldn’t help but smile.

He entered his bedroom. Gladio had left out on his bed for him a pair of his old sweatpants that Ignis liked to habitually steal. He quickly changed into this and an old hoodie and, grabbing the food that was left on the dining table, headed out to the stables.

Ellery was tucked away in his corner of the barn, as usual. The other chocobos generally left him alone, and he spent most of his time eating, sleeping, or playing on his own unless Ignis or Prompto thought to give him some attention. Ellery raised an eye as Ignis walked in, and sat up upon seeing the sylkis greens.

Ignis sat down in a fresh patch of hay next to his chocobo and set down his tray. He passed Ellery a large leaf of sylkis green, which he sniffed with some suspicion before beginning to nibble it very carefully.

He took a bite of the dumplings. They had long since cooled, but were still delicious. The robust flavour of the tomalley exploded in his mouth - they were decidedly moreish, and soon, the plate was empty. By this time, Ellery too had finished half of his sylkis greens, and the other chocobos were starting to eye the rest. Ignis gently tapped at Ellery’s beak with a leaf, which he nudged away. Taking this as confirmation that Ellery was done, he walked over to the feeder and placed the rest of the greens there.

Ignis settled next to Ellery, who ruffled the soft downy part of his feathers in invitation. Lying down, Ignis could see the stars out of the high windows of the barn. It was quiet save for the hooting of owls in the distance and the rustling of some of the chocochicks as they moved around to find a comfortable position. From his angle he could see that the lights in Noct’s room on the second floor were on, and there were flickers now and then from the light of his television.

Ignis did not want for much these days, but now, after his annual visit to the family tomb, he could not help but wonder how things could have been if at least some of his family had survived. Would they have reconciled, in a world where Noctis’ life, and by extension Ignis’, was not constantly at risk? Would Ignis have raised his younger siblings? Would Noctis have taught them how to play video games? Would Prompto have taken pictures of them as they grew up, and would Gladio have taught them how to fight? Would his older siblings have ruffled his hair and grinned at him, the way they had done when he was five?

The questions were endless.

Ignis pressed his face into Ellery’s bright golden feathers in an attempt to muffle his sobs, wary of waking up the chocochicks. Ellery shifted his enormous wing and enveloped Ignis, who melted into his embrace.

Eventually, their breaths evened out, the lights in the cottage were turned off, and the stars continued to shine and sparkle in the night.


	6. Day 6: Vacation (Ignis, Noctis, Prompto, and Gladio)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys vacation in Galdin Quay during the summer.
> 
> “LAST ONE IN THE WATER HAS TO WEAR THE MANKINI!”
> 
> Content warning: nudity as humour, swearing  
No real hugs here, just... childish humour at Ignis' expense.
> 
> ...my apologies in advance.

Ignis stepped out of the caravan that they had rented. The sun had pride of place in the middle of the sky, momentarily blinding him as his eyes adjusted to the brightness outside. The sand sparkled white and felt warm even underneath his sandals. The gulls squawked in the distance as they flew overhead, and the ocean fizzed gently as the waves ebbed and flowed over the sand.

He heard the caravan door open again behind him, and felt the wind tickle past him as Noctis ran at full speed towards the water, Prompto laughing and following close behind. The two had already stripped down to their boardshorts. The inflatable unicorn lay abandoned on the sand in front of the caravan door, all but forgotten in favour of the cooling body of water before them.

A large hand laid on his shoulder that he immediately recognised to be Gladio’s.

“Looking good.”

The heat rose to his cheeks as he took stock of his outfit for the day. In recognition of their first summer vacation in Galdin Quay, Ignis had agreed, albeit reluctantly, to strap himself into a pair of jammers which not only left little to the imagination but also exposed his entire torso and legs. They had stopped by a swimwear store near the quay for this very purpose, and it had taken a considerable amount of yelling to convince Noctis, Prompto, and Gladio that no, he would not put on a pair of swimming briefs, no matter how much they swore up and down that they would do all of the housework for the rest of the year.

It had taken further yelling to then convince Noctis not to buy the mankini for Prompto as a dare. The poor shop attendant certainly seemed happy to see them go, and Ignis had left a larger-than-usual tip for his trouble.

He turned around, looked Gladio up and down, and rolled his eyes. “Really, you may as well be naked--”

“Speak for yourself.”

“--though naked seems to be your default state anyway.”

Ignis stomped over to the inflatable unicorn, which currently looked like the aftermath of one of their hunts. He reached for the hand pump when he felt, once again, Gladio’s hand on his shoulder.

“Yes?”

“I’ll do it. Go and join the kids.”

“‘The kids’? Really, Gladio?”

Ignis stared at Gladio and tried to school his face into an indignant expression, he really did. But he couldn’t help the curl of his lip, which broke into a full-fledged chuckle.

“Give Prompto some credit.”

“Oooooooh,” Gladio jeered. “I’m going to tell Noct.”

“Suit yourself.”

As if on cue, Noctis and Prompto came bounding up in front of the caravan again, water dripping from their boardshorts. They glanced at each other, and a chill went down Ignis’ spine despite the toasty weather. They certainly did not have anything good up their sleeve.

The no-good thing that they had planned was, in fact, not up their sleeve, but in Noctis’ boardshort pocket.

Noctis pulled out a lime green bundle of fabric that could only be one thing, and dropped it onto the sand next to Ignis’ feet.

“Please tell me you didn’t stea-”

“LAST ONE IN THE WATER HAS TO WEAR THE MANKINI!”

There was a flurry of movement, no time for Ignis to groan. Prompto was the first to start sprinting - there was no beating him. Noctis had the upper hand, but was slowed by Gladio who shoved him. Noctis fell backwards into Ignis, who reflexively held out both of his hands to catch him. But the sensation of Noct’s back on his hands never came. There was a crackle and the ozone-like whiff of magic as Noctis warped into the ocean. Ignis clutched at the blue sparks that hung in the air in front of him.

Drat.

\-- AN HOUR LATER --

Dino and Coctura walked down the long boardwalk together. The lunch crowd had dispersed for the most part, and Dino had wanted to accompany Coctura to the local fishing post as she picked up fresh fish for the dinner crowd.

Coctura laughed as they walked past a large inflatable unicorn floating near the beach. “Looks like the tourists are having a lot of fun.”

“Sure do,” replied Dino as he squinted at the unicorn. “Wait, is that guy naked?”

“What guy?”

Coctura stopped and walked closer to the railing. Sure enough, lying face down on the unicorn was a man who appeared to be completely naked save for a V-shaped, lime green piece of cloth stretched from the top of his pasty white buttcrack to his freckled shoulders.

She made a noise of disgust. “I think it’s called a mankini. Guy must be from the north - only people who aren’t used to the sun glaring down 24/7 pull this kind of stunt.”

She leaned over the railing and, with the air of somebody who was used to this kind of bullshit from long hours spent dealing with rowdy tourists, bellowed: “Hey! Dumbass! This is a family-friendly beach!”

The two of them watched, Coctura with a smug expression, as a large man with tattoos all over his torso hurriedly placed a giant beach towel over the sunbather.

“Hang on a minute…”

“Hmm?”

“Haven’t we seen those guys before?”


	7. Day 7: Coffee | Cooking for Ignis (Ignis + Noctis + Prompto + Gladio)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys cook Ignis' favourite dish. Thanks to the recipe that Ignis leaves for them, things (generally) go according to plan.
> 
> The recipe actually works, although you'll most likely need to adjust the cooking time based on the strength of your toaster oven. Of course, you can also make this in a regular oven, on top of a frying pan, or even at a BBQ.

Dear Noctis, Gladio, and Prompto --

I understand from Noct that the three of you are interested in cooking for me tonight. I appreciate this very much and look forward to the meal. However, I cannot help but worry for the state of my kitchen tools and for your own physical safety.

Furthermore, Noct mentioned that he would like to cook one of my favourite dishes. He mentioned wanting to make a chiffon cake, a breaded cutlet, and tomalley-filled dumplings “because of the obscene noises you make when you eat them” (this is not true and purely a figment of Noct’s overactive imagination, I promise you).

A chiffon cake is most likely too challenging for a first time baker, and I shudder to think what would happen if Noct tried frying. Furthermore, tomalley requires careful preparation and a watchful eye, and I do not wish for all of us to be down with food poisoning tomorrow. Hence, I’ve written out a simple version of an enduring favourite that I think all of us would enjoy - Kenny’s Original Recipe.

The recipe should not be too difficult to follow. The necessary ingredients have already been laid out for you on the kitchen top except for the salmon and the shredded cheese - there are frozen fillets in the freezer, although I would be quite delighted if Noct would be able to catch a fresh one, as they are in season in the river northwest of here. If not, the frozen ones are perfectly delightful too - do remember to leave them out for about two hours so that they can defrost completely before you begin cooking them.

The shredded cheese doesn’t need to be defrosted. Please ensure that you pour it out from the big bag - DON’T stick your hand into the bag to take out the cheese - otherwise, the cheese will become mouldy.

Noctis, if there’s anything you’re uncertain about, do consult Prompto. He’s easily the most versed when it comes to the kitchen out of the three of you. And please, for the love of everything that is good in this world, do not allow Gladio to add cup noodles or cup noodle flavour sachets in any shape or form to this recipe.

Plus, if things don’t go as planned, we can simply take a ride out to the nearest Crow’s Nest Diner and simply order the original.

All the best to you. I’ll be in my room.

Do be careful.

With love,  
Ignis

P.S. The fire extinguisher is underneath the sink.  
P.P.S. I’ve also placed some potions and ethers near the sink in case anybody gets hurt. I do hope that you will not have to use them.

\--

KENNY’S ORIGINAL RECIPE ~HOME-MADE EASY VERSION~

**Ingredients**  


  * 4 salmon fillets
  * 2 large yellow onions
  * 4 large potatoes
  * 4 cloves of garlic
  * Salt, to taste
  * Olive oil
  * Shredded cheese

**Tools**  


  * Aluminium foil
  * Toaster oven

**Preparation**

  1. Wash your hands using the antiseptic soap (red bottle) at the sink. Don’t confuse it with the vegetable wash (green bottle) or the dishwashing liquid (blue bottle).
  2. Prepare four pieces of aluminium foil. These pieces should be large enough for you to wrap a single salmon fillet with some topping in a candy-like shape. (It depends on how large the salmon fillet is, but I would recommend using at least a 25x25cm square. That would be a good size for the salmon fillets that are in the freezer.)
  3. Wash, peel, and slice the onions. You should peel away any part of the onion that has a paper-like texture. The slices don’t need to be too thin; about 5mm will do. Separate into three piles… or four, depending on whether you have enough energy to be dealing with a whining Noct, Gladio.
  4. Wash, peel, and slice the garlic. Remove the core (it’s the part in the middle that is shaped like a small nail). Separate into four piles. Feel free to increase the amount of garlic as you see fit. I do tend to like mine with a little more garlic.
  5. Wash, peel, and slice the potato into 5mm slices. You don’t want these to be too thick - otherwise, they won’t cook all the way through and will be hard. Separate into four piles.
  6. Using your fingers, rub some olive oil on one shiny side of the aluminium foil to prevent sticking.
  7. Take some salt in your hand (one small pinch per salmon fillet will do) and rub the salt into each salmon fillet. Don’t overdo this, as fish tends to already contain some sodium, and the cheese will add salt as well.
  8. Place the potato slices in the middle of the aluminium foil in one line. You are forming the “bed” for the salmon to lay on top of.
  9. Lay the salted salmon on top of the bed of potatoes.
  10. Lay the onion and the garlic on top of the salmon.
  11. Sprinkle an appropriate amount of shredded cheese on top. (Noctis, an appropriate amount is not the whole bag.)
  12. Fold the aluminium foil tightly so that it resembles a candy.
  13. Repeat steps 6-12 for each piece of salmon fillet.

**Cooking**

  * Place in the toaster oven. Our toaster oven is quite large, so all four fillets should be able to fit at the same time.
  * Cook for about 15-20 minutes.

\--

Ignis sipped at his can of Ebony while poring over the latest edition of Elemancy Quarterly. What was once a matter of needing to know something in order to protect his liege and stay alive now became a hobby. The article that he was currently reading detailed latest research on the possibility of absorbing elemental energy remotely from an elemental deposit. If successful, the technology would be life-changing for magic users who could not conjure their own elemental magic. Ignis himself did not need this, having proficiency and innate skill in elemental magic, but he wondered whether the development of such technology might help in persuading Prompto to expand his armoury. Prompto was certainly talented in his use of ranged weapons, but there had been a couple of incidents in the past where whatever they were hunting had snuck up on him from behind. It would be good for him to have some kind of close combat weapon that he could wield proficiently.

He was shaken out of his musings by a knock on the door.

“Ignis? Dinner’s ready!”

“Coming!”

Well, this was certainly a new feeling. Ignis opened the door, and sniffed at the air. Nothing smelt burned, which had to be a good sign, he supposed. Noctis was beaming while holding out Ignis’ chair for him to sit in. Gladio was already seated and cocking an eyebrow at Ignis, and Prompto grabbed Ignis’ hand, pulling him to his seat.

With some trepidation, he opened up the mound of aluminium foil that was placed on his plate. The sweet aroma of onions and garlic, the inviting tang of shredded cheddar cheese, and the mouth-watering scent of a well-cooked salmon immediately engulfed the dining room. The salmon was fully cooked, and everything looked to be in order. The onions seemed to be rather haphazardly chopped, but in the grand scheme of things, that was of little importance.

Noctis leaned towards Ignis from his seat next to him, obviously wanting to be praised. Ignis couldn’t help but smile. Perhaps he should give Noctis more credit - he was, after all, pushing thirty, and was generally good when it came to preparing dishes involving fish.

“Thank you, Noctis.”

Prompto pouted from opposite Noctis. “Hey, how about me? I helped! And so did Gladio!”

“Prompto helped chop the onions, but bailed halfway because his eyes started tearing up. I did most of the work,” piped up Noctis, crossing his arms.

Ignis glanced at Gladio.

“He really did, actually. Prompto was taking pictures most of the time, and I just helped carry the salmon up from the river.”

“Anyway, let’s eat before the food gets cold!” exclaimed Prompto, digging his fork into his salmon fillet, which had a suspiciously large mound of onions underneath the cheese. Sure enough, Noct’s salmon was devoid of the vegetable.

Ignis snapped his finger.

“That’s it!”

“What’s what?”

“There’s a bottle of white wine in the fridge that is just the thing to go with this salmon.”

Ignis made to stand up and move towards the kitchen, but was immediately pulled down by Noctis.

“Uh, Specs? It’s all right, I’m not really in the mood for alcohol.”

“Yeah,” chimed in Prompto. “I uh… heh. You know, I still get carded when I go to the general store. Who knows, maybe I’m still underage?”

Ignis cocked a well-groomed eyebrow at Prompto, and glanced towards Gladio, who sheepishly scratched his head. “You might not want to go to the kitchen right now. Noct promises to clean it up and return it to its original condition before midnight but uh… yeah, don’t go in there.”

Noctis nodded vigorously, and as he did, a flurry of salmon scales fell from Noct’s hair onto their lap.

Ignis groaned.


	8. Day 8: Free Day (Ignis + Cor)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignis has a bad day. It's time for Cor Leonis, patron saint of all of the Citadel's wayward sons, to step in.

The day was not going according to plan.

Gladio was obviously angry about something, and took it out on Ignis during early morning practice. He came out of their usual four rounds of sparring with a jammed finger, a cut on his cheek, and a bruised rib. His favourite practice shirt was torn from where Gladio had grabbed it and tackled him to the ground. To add insult to injury, Gladio had had the nerve to blame Ignis for not blocking and parrying his moves. Ignis’ respect for the sanctity of the sparring hall was the only thing that kept him from throwing his practice daggers on the immaculate floor and storming off to the locker rooms.

Then, Noctis was in a mood. Ignis had to pull him out of his bed, and had been snapped at for his trouble. Noctis had slapped his hand away when he tried to help him with his crooked tie and, on the car ride all the way to school, Noctis had moaned about how slow and incompetent of a driver Ignis was. Still, Ignis had gone back to Noctis’ apartment to clean up the ridiculous mess that one teenaged boy had somehow managed to create in the span of a day. At around 11AM, Noctis had texted that he would be bringing home his friend Prompto, and so, Ignis had gone to the supermarket.

At the supermarket, the fresh wild barramundi that Noctis enjoyed was sold out, and when Ignis approached the fishmonger to ask if they might possibly have extra stock in the back, the man immediately clicked his tongue and shooed Ignis away. Deciding to go for a garula sirloin instead, he had gone to the meat section… only to find that there were only two pieces left, which meant that there would be none for him.

After paying for and bagging his items, he had made to move towards his car, only to be tackled down by a group of unruly teenagers (who should be in school, what were they doing at the supermarket?) playing with a shopping cart. His groceries went flying in all kinds of directions. Thankfully, most of it could be saved - but the bag of Cleigne wheat flour was a goner, with most of it ending up on Ignis’ face.

Ignis prayed that none of them had taken a video of that as he tried to wipe away flour as best as he could from the weeping wound on his cheek.

Then, Noctis came home with his friend, and that was when the real trouble began. At first, they seemed quite happy on their own, playing some video game or the other in the living room on Noctis’ television. Ignis would have thought that the fact that Ignis was baking and cooking in the kitchen, which was in plain sight of the living room, would suffice as an announcement that he was making dinner for the three of them.

But no. At around 6PM, when Ignis had just finished breading the schnitzel and was placing the meat into the soft Cleigne buns that had just come out of the oven, he heard the following incomprehensible words come out of Noctis’ mouth:

“Hey, let’s order some pizza!”

On any other day, Ignis might have conceded and placed the garula sirloin steaks in the fridge to cook the next day - but he was not having it. He protested, after which Noctis began to shout. Then Ignis started shouting, and then Prompto joined in. Noctis yelled louder, Ignis yelled louder, Prompto started to cry, and Noctis locked himself in his bedroom.

“Comforting a hyperventilating teenager and sending him home while he sobbed miserably into the upholstery of a Crown-issued car” definitely made top ten on Ignis’ list of the worst car rides he had ever had. It was topped only by the car ride to the citadel hospital after the Marilith attacked Noctis, and an Amiticia family road trip in which a pre-teen Gladio got car sick all over Ignis.

To make matters worse, when Ignis returned to Noctis’ apartment, he found that Noctis had put the security chain on his front door. Even with his key card, there was no way of getting in. He had spent 20 minutes pleading with Noctis through the door before a neighbour came out to scold him for behaving badly and being thrown out of his house.

Thrown out of his house!

By the time he returned to his office in the citadel to submit his reports for the day, it was 10PM. He had had nothing to eat or drink the entire day save for two cans of Ebony, and the two schnitzel sandwiches he made lay squashed and cold in his attaché case. Exhausted and upset, he was struggling to blink back tears when the worst possible person rounded the corner and bumped into him.

“Marshall Cor Leonis, sir! I’m so sorry!” yelled Ignis, as he felt around for his glasses. He put them on and glanced up at the surly-faced man staring down at him. He looked down. His attaché case had opened up upon impact, and his papers were strewn all over the floor. The schnitzel sandwiches he had wrapped in wax paper were leaking barbeque sauce onto his reports. The jar of oats he had packed for himself in the morning - which he had completely forgotten about - had broken in half. Currently, it was leaking grey goop all over the inside of his case, which had been handed down to him by his late father.

Crouched on the floor of the citadel hallways, in the glow of the dim lights that they kept lit after 10PM, under the puzzled gaze of Cor Leonis, to his absolute horror, Ignis began to sob.

Everybody had a limit, and this was his.

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. His interactions with the Marshal were generally to do with physical training, and he had sparred with him numerous times. Ignis was a fast learner, and so, more recently, he was supposed to practice his use of the elemental daggers under the direct tutelage of the Marshal.

Would the Marshal cancel his offer to train Ignis? Would Ignis be admonished for losing his composure under duress? Most likely. If he couldn’t even handle a shield’s beating, a prince’s temper tantrum, and comforting a distraught civilian during peacetime, how could he be expected to make split-second decisions protecting his prince on the battlefield, or to serve his prince in times of political strife?

He was wondering if the citadel kitchens would take in a Scientia orphan as an apprentice chef when suddenly, he felt Cor’s steady arms envelop him in an unexpectedly gentle embrace. Cor’s cologne reminded Ignis of the pine forest behind his childhood home that he used to escape to in his free time. He began to cry in earnest. He cried for Gladio, who he knew was struggling with the idea that he may one day be expected to lay down his life in order to defend his prince. He cried for Noctis, whom he had watched change from a bubbly, rambunctious infant to a sullen teenager, struggling under the weight of loss, trauma, and fate. He cried for Prompto, who was simply looking forward to an evening of good fun, and certainly did not deserve to be dragged into this mess.

He cried for himself. He took pride in who he was, and what he did - he had done House Scientia proud by being selected for the position of retainer, but on days like this, he could not help but question everything. He had given up any semblance of a normal childhood for the past 18 years to serve a boy who showed him little gratitude. The adults were too busy to have an idea of the sheer amount of work that Ignis put in, balancing his care of Noctis with the role he played on the Council, taking notes and offering his views on occasion. All he wanted was some recognition, a simple “thank you” or a pat on the back, once in a while.

Exhausted, he slumped against Cor’s chest. “I’m so sorry,” he mumbled into it.

Cor snorted, and ran his large hands through Ignis’ hair. It felt good. Ignis couldn’t remember the last time somebody had patted his head. He sniffled.

“Those two idiots really did a number on you today, huh?”

Ignis made a puzzled sound.

“Oh yeah, they messaged me just now, both of them. Gladio said he’d messed up real bad and hurt you while sparring, and Noctis said he’d also messed up real bad and kicked you out of his house. He said you made garula schnitzel sandwiches? Did you know they’re my favourite?”

“They are?”

“Yeah, when I was a kid going around fighting with Regis, I used to sneak up on those garulas and take them down just so I could eat some fresh sirloin. I always got yelled at by Clarus for picking unnecessary fights or whatever, but if feeding yourself isn’t unnecessary, I don’t know what is.”

Ignis murmured in assent, not really sure what to say. After all, this was an abnormal situation - he was still sat in the middle of the corridor with Marshal Cor Leonis. He could see the tear and snot stains on the Marshal’s jacket, and squirmed with embarrassment.

“Speaking of,” continued Cor. “How about we hop into my office and eat those sandwiches? I haven’t had dinner, clearly you haven’t, and you can tell me what’s on your mind. I’ve got a sofa and some Ebony for you.”

Ignis’ stomach growled loudly, and Cor laughed. Ignis admitted sheepishly that he was past the point of embarrassment now and should simply make good of the situation. In any case, he wasn’t about to turn down a can of Ebony.


End file.
